


The Missing Moments

by spobylol



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon, Deleted Scenes, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-05-05 21:39:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14627556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spobylol/pseuds/spobylol
Summary: The missing moments between Cheryl and Toni on the show....or, my take on the deleted Cheryl and Toni scenes that were so cruelly taken away.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! I don't know if you're keeping up with Twitter, but there are basically a ton of Choni scenes that were apparently cut and I thought I'd just fill in some of the gaps by writing "missing moments" and deleted scene stuff. I'm sure we'd all like those scenes to be released, but... I don't know if it'll happen.
> 
> So, this story follows all the events of the show. PROBABLY spoilers if you're not caught up to whichever episode the chapter focuses on. 
> 
> I'm also still working on my other Choni story ("Best Mistake"), which is, essentially, a story about Cheryl and Toni drunkenly hooking up and then totally falling for each other. Feel free to check it out :) Yes, shameless plug... 
> 
> * ALSO, more important note! * 
> 
> The first chapter is going to be focusing on 2x14, where there is allegedly a deleted scene of Cheryl and Toni at the movies where they accidentally touch hands while going for popcorn. UH, that would've been adorable. If it's actually a deleted scene... how could they delete that (or any Choni scene, honestly)!?

Cheryl Blossom didn't know how she ended up at the movies with Toni Topaz, who was not only a Serpent, but also somebody that she had loathed just a few hours ago at school when she came into the bathroom and  _harassed_ her. Well, maybe it wasn't really harassment (and Cheryl might have enjoyed, for a split second  _only_ , the feeling of somebody asking her what was wrong), but still had found Toni annoying as hell. 

But somehow, they had run into each other at the movies, and they both  _happened_ to be alone. 

So, there they were, sitting next to each other in the movie theater, watching  _Love, Simon_ together. 

At some point during the movie, she glanced over and saw the way Toni was smiling when she watched it. She was really enjoying it. Cheryl couldn't help but smile for some reason. It was just... nice to be here with somebody else? To be here with  _maybe_ a friend? Cheryl tried not to think about it too hard, turning her attention back to the movie.

Soon enough, she decided to reach over to get some popcorn. She and Toni had decided to buy one large popcorn and share it. Cheryl couldn't remember the last time she shared popcorn with somebody. She was pretty sure the last person was Jason. She didn't really go to the movies with people that often.

Cheryl was shuffling her hand inside of the large bag of buttery popcorn, trying to get a handful of it. 

But apparently, Toni had decided to reach into the bag to get popcorn at the same time.

Their hands ran into each other. The gentle sensation of the skin on their hands touching sent a weird feeling through Cheryl's body. Her hand froze right there and Toni's did the same thing. They stayed that way with their hands touching a little too long...

Hands still touching, Cheryl glanced over at the Serpent, who glanced back. Their eyes locked and it was awkward... in a good way. Cheryl chewed her lip as she and Toni gazed at each other. Their eyes were locked, their hands were touching, and Cheryl was one-hundred percent sure that this was what it felt like to get butterflies in her stomach—something that she hadn't felt in a long, long time.

Fearfully, Cheryl pulled her hand away and turned away from Toni. She shoved the popcorn into her mouth, trying to forget about what had just happened and instead focus on the movie in front of her. 

Luckily, Toni didn't try to say anything about it. Instead, she just got a handful of popcorn, too, and continued watching the movie. 

Cheryl felt her eyes getting watery. No, the hell—she was  _not_ going to cry at a _movie_. She never did that. 

But she couldn't help but feel like crying. She felt those  _deviant_ things again when her hand touched Toni's. God, how many times had her mother told her that feeling things like that was deviant. She had tried so hard to shove those thoughts away, but of course, she had to start feeling something for a girl  _again_. 

Combined with a scene in  _Love, Simon_ where Simon's mother was talking about how he used to be a carefree kid until he started hiding the secret, this was getting to be all too much for Cheryl. She started thinking about the first girl she had fallen for—Heather. Her mother had shunned her for feeling that way about a girl. Cheryl had felt so bad about herself. She had felt like she was doing something wrong. She was disappointing her mother as usual. Before, she had always wished that she could just be  _normal_ like her mother wanted her to be.

So, she couldn't help it.

The tears rolled down her cheeks. She was actually sobbing at a movie. And she was pretty sure that Toni noticed it, which made it even more embarrassing. 

Her mother would hate it if she ever found out, but Cheryl was pretty sure that she was falling for Toni Topaz.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter focuses on 2x17. Vanessa, at Archiecon, mentioned that there were quite a few sweet Choni scenes cut from this episode. 
> 
> 1) One where Toni leaves Cheryl a message about "never letting her be alone again" and telling her that she'll find her. 
> 
> 2) One where Toni goes with Cheryl to the hospital and Cheryl is crying and asks her how Toni found her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're all so sweet! Thanks for all the positive reaction so far!

Toni didn't know what was going on. Cheryl had suddenly disappeared and her mother claimed that she "went off to boarding school in Switzerland." However, Toni didn't buy that for one second. There was no way that the Cheryl she knew would just  _leave_ without so much as a goodbye. 

She, Veronica, and Josie had all been worrying about Cheryl's whereabouts and had decided to search for her. But Josie had dropped out after becoming alarmed when Cheryl's mother revealed that it was  _Cheryl_ who was obsessed with Josie. 

Toni couldn't lie, she had been slightly bothered by it at first, but not enough to give up on Cheryl. She never would. It bothered her to think about Cheryl having feelings for Josie, but she understood why the redhead did what she did. Toni knew that Cheryl had felt alone all her life, even more-so after Jason was murdered. Cheryl had been through so damn much that Toni knew she had misplaced her feelings and gone overboard. She just wanted to be loved. 

It hurt Toni to think about how much Cheryl had been through. In some ways, she had a lot in common with the redhead—both of them didn't have the best family history. At least Toni was lucky enough to find a family in the Serpents; Cheryl still didn't have one. Penelope Blossom was a nightmare and everybody already knew what Clifford Blossom did. The only family Cheryl had left was her Nana Rose. 

All the Serpent could think about now was how alone Cheryl was feeling, wherever she was. She knew that Penelope Blossom was behind this.

It was a desperate attempt, but Toni pulled out her cell phone and tapped on Cheryl's contact to call her. It certainly was a long shot, but she had to at least try calling her again. 

To her dismay, after several rings, the call went to voicemail. Toni groaned, wishing a miracle had happened and Cheryl somehow picked up her phone. She knew it might be pointless, but she decided she'd try leaving a voicemail.

"Cheryl," she said, her voice almost breaking as she said it. "I don't know where you are right now, but I'm going to find you. And I'm never letting you be alone again, okay? If you get the chance to listen to this, just please let me know that you're okay. I'm not going to stop until I find you."

She sent the voicemail, putting her phone away. Her heart was aching. She really needed Cheryl to be okay. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she  _had_ to find her. Somehow.

When she looked over, she saw Veronica walking toward her. She bit her lip, hoping that the girl was coming with some good news— _some_ lead, anything to go off of to help them find Cheryl.

"Hey," Veronica said. "Please tell me you have something." 

Toni sighed, feeling frustrated. They both had nothing.

* * *

 

"The doctors said that everything's okay," Veronica announced, standing in the doorway of Cheryl's hospital room alongside Toni and Kevin.

"I've got it from here," Toni told them. "I'll take her back somewhere to stay."

"Are you sure?" Veronica asked, concerned.

Toni nodded her head, "I promise that I'll take care of her." 

Veronica believed her, of course. She had seen the way Toni cared for Cheryl—she didn't doubt her at all. She just nodded her head.

"Okay, well... Kevin and I will leave you guys alone," Veronica said.

Veronica figured that the two of them had a lot to talk about after everything that went down. And maybe their talk would include that  _kiss_ that she had witnessed. Although Veronica wanted to know more about  _that_ relationship, she wasn't planning on asking too many questions on a night like this. She grabbed Kevin's arm and the two of them walked away together.

The four of them had come to the hospital after rescuing Cheryl from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy that night to make sure that Cheryl was okay. The doctors had checked her out and ran a few tests to make sure everything was fine. And luckily, everything was. Well, except for Cheryl's stability, that was. She was still a mess after what had happened that night, and nobody could blame her for it after what she had been through. Not just what she had been through that night, but what she had been through during her life...

The redhead looked up at the Serpent tearfully once her other friends were gone. She wiped away some of the tears falling from her eyes, sniffling. 

"Did you hear?" Toni asked, smiling. "You're okay."

Cheryl nodded her head. "They... they injected me with all this weird stuff, I didn't know what it was..."

Toni looked at her sympathetically. She shut the door behind her before sitting on the hospital bed next to Cheryl. 

"Toni," Cheryl said in a cracked voice, her eyes getting watery again. Toni's heart broke as she looked at the other girl, unsure of how to take care of her or comfort her after all the horrible things she had been through that night. "You found me." 

Toni smiled, "Of course. I wasn't going to stop until we did. And it wasn't just me... I couldn't have found you without Veronica and Kevin's help." 

"I know, but..." Cheryl said, the tears now just pouring out of her eyes. "How did you find me? I didn't think that anyone would care enough to even be looking for me—"

"Stop," Toni grabbed her hand. "Cheryl, I care about you...  _so much_. And I'm never letting you feel alone like that again. What your mother did to you is...  _sick_. I can't even find the words to describe it, but it's so, so sick. Like I said when we went to Pop's that one night: you're sensational, Cheryl."

Cheryl was feeling a million things at once, but she felt so warm inside hearing Toni talk about her that way. She had never felt so cared for in her life. Tears kept flowing out of her eyes, anyway. Toni reached for her cheeks with her other hand, wiping the tears away. She rested her hands on Cheryl's cheeks.

"I'm never letting you feel alone again," Toni whispered, leaning forward so that their foreheads were touching. 

Cheryl leaned forward slightly, kissing the Serpent. Toni kissed her back, tasting the salty tears that were all over her face. It was slow and gentle, yet it ended much quicker than Cheryl would've liked. She didn't know what this meant for them, but she knew with certainty that it was good.

"You're not going back to Thistlehouse tonight," Toni shook her head once she pulled back. She was still holding Cheryl's face. "I know it's not ideal, but I thought you could come stay with me tonight. My uncle's out of town right now, so I'm crashing his trailer. Normally, he doesn't let me stay there, but... he's not here to stop me, so... too bad, I guess? It's not a very nice place and it's on the southside, but—"

"It doesn't matter to me," Cheryl assured her. "Thank you for taking care of me tonight, Toni."

"I want to," Toni smiled.

Toni let go of Cheryl's face, standing up from the hospital bed. She offered the redhead a hand up.

"Get changed and we'll check you out of here," Toni told her. "And I promise I'll give you something more comfortable to wear when we get to my uncle's trailer."

Cheryl just smiled as Toni left the room. She was in awe that she had somebody like Toni in her life. Every initial judgment she had about Toni Topaz had been wrong; Toni was quite possibly the best person that Cheryl had met. 

After all the horrors of that night, she felt safe knowing that Toni was there for her.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next episode we're tackling is 2x18: the musical episode! This one, as you probably know, has quite a few deleted scenes. I'm not going to do anything with the duet scene because it was already released + I'm not really sure what I could do with a duet, lol... but I am going to tackle the other two we know about.
> 
> 1) Cheryl calling Toni her girlfriend in the confessional.
> 
> 2) The absolutely adorable-looking scene where Cheryl brings Toni a rose backstage and kisses her on the cheek! (There's a photo of Cheryl kissing Toni on the cheek in this scene and it is SO cute, so if you haven't seen it... you best!)

Cheryl rolled her eyes as Jughead turned the camera on.

"Do you  _really_ have to do that, hobo?"

" _Hey_ ," he frowned. "First of all, I'm recording so I got you saying that. And second of all, Kevin asked me to do this. I haven't gotten any of your thoughts yet, so, I thought I'd get them now."

"Fine, what do you want to know?" she asked.

"This is supposed to be your confessional, so... talk," Jughead shrugged his shoulders, "about all things  _Carrie: The Musical_ , of course."

Cheryl thought for a moment.

"Well, it's great being the lead role, as I deserve." 

Jughead fought the urge to roll his eyes, continuing by asking a question: "You're not... afraid?"

The redhead glared at him as if he had asked the most stupid question possible. She folded her arms.

"There's nothing to be afraid  _of_ ," she insisted. "I was born for this role, so I have no reason to be afraid of performance night." 

"I mean, about whoever's threatening you," Jughead clarified. "The sandbag incident from rehearsal this morning? You might want to play Carrie, but it seems like somebody else really doesn't want you to."

Cheryl pondered it. She had her concerns, but it was probably nothing, right? Her guess was that the sandbag incident was just a jealous Ethel Muggs, who clearly wanted to play the role of Carrie White all along. Perhaps she was trying to scare Cheryl into quitting, but there was no way that the redhead was going to back down just yet.

"I'm not afraid," she said proudly. "Whoever is responsible for that  _incident_ is clearly the one who is afraid of my true talent. They're a coward. Besides, I'm used to the jealousy. It's not the first time that someone has envied me. I've got the lead role in the musical and an amazing girlfriend; I'm not surprised they're jealous."

Jughead looked up, slightly stunned. _Girlfriend_. Maybe he was oblivious, but he hadn't been expecting that. 

"So, I'll take it that you're excited for the musical?"

Cheryl smiled proudly and unapologetically.

"Of course," she continued. "I get to share my undeniable talents with the school all while spending time with Toni—my girlfriend, by the way."

Cheryl was liking this. She saw the surprised expression on Jughead's face. She figured that Toni hadn't gotten around to telling him about their relationship. Truth was, Cheryl was somewhat afraid to say it aloud because she and Toni hadn't exactly had a talk to define their relationship... Cheryl had just assumed that they were dating after they kissed for the first time. But as soon as Jughead came there to film her confessional and thoughts about the musical, she knew she just  _had_ to brag about it.

Because honestly, she was excited. It was her first real relationship with somebody who actually cared about her. She couldn't help but want to shout it from the rooftops. 

Jughead just nodded his head. Yeah, Toni hadn't told him about  _that_. He didn't even know that she was seeing anybody, nonetheless it being Cheryl. But he smiled a little. It was surprising, but he kind of liked the thought of that. Cheryl seemed really happy when she talked about her. Ever since everything that went down with Jason, Jughead hadn't seen the redhead smile much.  Cheryl could be a handful sometimes, but he wondered if Toni would be good for her. He knew the type of person that Toni was—how loyal and caring she was. Maybe she was exactly what Cheryl needed. He had a good feeling about them.

* * *

 

It turned out that Cheryl's  _hideous_ mother refused to allow her to be in the musical. Cheryl was obviously distraught and planned to get complete revenge on her mother and her uncle for all their recent actions, but that would have to wait until after the musical.

Yes, she was absolutely disappointed that everyone at Riverdale High School wasn't going to see her kicking ass as Carrie White. And normally, she would have not shown up to the show at all in anger. However, that wasn't the case this time. She was still going to the musical because she kind of had somebody she wanted to support.

After her mother banned her from being in the musical, there had been one person who was really there for her. Within minutes of her going to the bleachers to sulk, Toni had shown up to comfort her, reassuring her of the person she was. Despite all of her anger, Cheryl felt warm inside to know she had somebody who cared for her. It still felt unreal to her that Toni was hers—that Toni was in her life... that Toni was  _her_ girlfriend.

And that was why she had gone to the florist before the musical that night to purchase a rose. 

Then, she headed over to Riverdale High School because she had a special girl to surprise.

It was still surprising, even to herself, that she was acting this way. She always prided herself on being  _that_ bitch at school. After all, her Vixen shirt read  _HBIC_ on the back. But for some reason, being with Toni made her want to act like a complete idiotic romantic. She actually wanted to do a nice gesture; she couldn't believe that Toni could make her so soft. 

She slipped inside of Toni's dressing room backstage (which was, thankfully, unlocked). There were other people inside who were also getting ready for the show, but Cheryl easily spotted Toni sitting in front of the vanity mirror, putting on finishing touches before the show. 

"You're here," Veronica smiled, eyeing the rose that was in the redhead's hands. She had a feeling who  _that_ was for, even if they hadn't revealed their relationship publicly. 

Cheryl just offered a small smile back, not wanting to engage in too much conversation with her. Veronica got the message—she was probably dying to surprise Toni. Veronica got back to getting ready for the show, while Cheryl proceeded to where Toni was sitting.

The redhead bent down, sneaking up behind the tiny girl sitting in the chair. She leaned over Toni's shoulder, placing a soft and gentle kiss on her cheek, holding the red rose up. Toni's lips curled into a smile, completely surprised by Cheryl coming in... in a good way, of course.

"Hi," Cheryl said quietly, still leaning over Toni's shoulder. Her lips were brushing against Toni's cheek.

"Hi," Toni said back.

When Toni's eyes locked on the rose that she could see in the mirror, her heart was all over the place. She was aware that she was a gang member and Cheryl was "HBIC" of the Vixens (and the school), but she couldn't help but swoon like this because her  _girlfriend_ had really surprised her like this.

She turned her head to look at the other girl.

" _Cheryl_ ," Toni was grinning like an idiot now. "You didn't have to—"

"I know, but..." she bit her lip. "I wanted to. I just wanted to wish you luck tonight... not that you'll need it. I know you're going to kill it."

Toni chuckled, shaking her head. 

"You do realize that I'm, like... not even an important character in this musical, right?" she asked. "I mean, seriously... I'm playing such a minor role."

Cheryl didn't seem to care.

"Well, you're the star of the show to me," the redhead told her. "You're the only reason I'm here. My eyes will be on you the entire time."

Okay, Toni was  _really_ swooning now. She was surprised that either one of them was acting this soft, but she kind of, sort of didn't totally hate it... In fact, she maybe liked it—a lot. 

She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Cheryl's lips. Cheryl's hands found hers; the redhead transferred the rose to Toni, who gladly accepted it. 

"I will keep this forever," Toni told her, admiring the rose for a second, then turning to admire her girlfriend instead. "Well, I mean... until it dies, which is probably going to be really fast since I'm not the best at taking care of plants."

Cheryl chuckled, "That's fine. I'll buy you a million more if I have to."

Both of them leaned in again, their lips touching again. This time, they continued kissing for much longer, although Toni knew that it wasn't the best idea since she had a few more things to do to get ready for the show. However, she was a bit too distracted by Cheryl to care much...

From across the dressing room, Betty nudged Veronica once she saw the sight of Cheryl and Toni kissing.

"When did  _that_ happen?" Betty asked, startled.

She was even more startled to find that Veronica didn't seem surprised at all to see them kissing.

"Um, it's been a thing for a little while now," Veronica replied. "You didn't pick up on it?" Betty shook her head. Veronica continued, "Not even when Toni went racing out of the auditorium this morning as soon as Kevin told her that Cheryl was in the gym?"

Betty pressed her lips together. She remembered  _that_. She wondered how she hadn't picked up on it sooner. 

They were an odd, unlikely pair in Betty's opinion, but they sure seemed happy together.

They were sickeningly cute—she'd give them that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to recall all the other deleted Choni moments, but I just can't seem to do it. I was looking for that list of deleted scenes that was surfacing around earlier, but couldn't manage to find it. So, I'm just going to write out the ones that I remember, which are all from the season 2 finale. 
> 
> In this chapter, I'll be tackling the apparent scene where Cheryl and Toni have breakfast at Thistlehouse.

"Thanks for letting me crash last night... and for breakfast." 

The redhead simply smiled at her girlfriend from across the table. 

"My hideous mother and Uncle Claudius will be out of my life permanently soon," Cheryl reminded, trying to contain her excitement. It was finally the end of facing the emotional abuse from her mother. Years of repressed feelings and constant sadness were possibly going to end. Cheryl felt like she was starting to find some stability in her life, especially with the familial feeling she was getting from spending so much time with Toni and the Serpents. "You can stay over whenever you want. I've been working with Sierra McCoy to finalize my emancipation. It'll just be me, Nana Rose, and perhaps...  _you_?"

Toni was a bit startled at Cheryl's words. She wasn't expecting the redhead to basically imply that she should stay with her. Was that a permanent request? Did Cheryl actually want her to move in, or was she just saying it to be a good girlfriend? Toni didn't want to get her hopes up.

In all honesty, Toni had never had a real place to stay. She would go couch surfing at different people's trailers on the South Side. She tried to stay with her uncle whenever possible or whenever he was out, but whenever he was home, he was always trying to lock her out. Jughead was often kind enough to let her sleep over, but with FP's return, it wasn't exactly the best place to be staying. Most of the Serpents like Jughead and Sweet Pea took turns letting her stay over, but she was starting to feel like too much of a burden. It was extremely unstable and she never felt like she had an actual home.

"Also, thank you for standing by the Serpents," Toni added, taking a sip of her orange juice. "I never thought you'd be one to stand with us, so... it means a lot to me. I just— I hope you're not doing all of this only because of me." 

Cheryl scoffed, "T.T., you may be one of the reasons I'm doing this, but you're not the only one."

"Oh?" Toni raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

The redhead nodded her head. Recently, she had been hanging around the Serpents a lot more than she ever thought she would. Sure, it all began because she started dating Toni, who was clearly a Serpent herself, but there was much more to it. There were reasons that she didn't simply tolerate the Serpents because her girlfriend was one; she was actually helping them. While she would have tried to save Toni from Penny's wrath no matter what, the reason she had stood by the Serpents during the protest against Fangs and today's protest against Riverdale High School's treatment toward the Serpents went beyond Toni. 

"As you probably know, my family situation is a bit... toxic, to put it simply," Cheryl swallowed. "After Jason died, I lost the purest part of my family. I didn't feel like I had one. So, being around you... and being around the Serpents— it's made me feel like I have a family again. I have people I can rely on— people who are willing to take care of me and people I'm willing to take care of. That's what  _I_ think a real family is."

Toni smiled. For a girl who once seemed extremely reserved emotionally, Cheryl had come a long way. Or perhaps, Toni had just broken through those toughly-guarded walls. As their relationship progressed, the redhead became more and more open with her. Toni felt like she actually knew the other girl well emotionally. 

"Why did you join the Serpents, anyway?" 

Toni perked her head up from the endless breakfast in front of her. Truthfully, when Cheryl had just shared her reasons for her recent alignment with the Serpents, Toni had felt a strong connection to that. Though their stories were not identical by any means, Toni related to some of the feelings her girlfriend was having. For starters, she never felt like she had much of a family until she joined the Serpents. They gave her every bit of a family. 

"Family," the Serpent stated simply. She then elaborated, "I didn't have much of a family. The Serpents finally gave me one."

And it was like a lightbulb went off in Cheryl's head. Toni noticed the light go off immediately, strongly sensing what Cheryl was thinking about.

"Please don't shoot me down immediately, but..." the redhead bit her lip. "...what if  _I_ joined the Serpents?"

Toni's breath hitched, although she had already been mentally guessing that Cheryl was going to suggest that she joined the Serpents. All her talk about not having a family, all her curiosity about the Serpents— Toni wasn't surprised that the redhead was considering joining the gang, although she was sure that Cheryl hadn't thought it through fully because it was  _not_ a small thing. It wasn't a decision to be made casually over breakfast. It was a huge lifestyle that Toni needed Cheryl to heavily think about before taking any action.

" _Cheryl_..."

Cheryl sighed, "I had a feeling that you wouldn't be too pleased, but I'm not saying I'm  _going_ to try to join. I'm merely thinking about it. Won't you think about it, too?" 

"I would love for you to join, I promise," Toni told her. "I just... I don't want you to do anything you're not ready for. It's not a small commitment."

"I know that. I've been thinking about joining for a while, honestly."

Toni smiled weakly. She understood where Cheryl was coming from completely. Despite being a rich girl who grew up with a lifestyle completely opposite that of all of the other Serpents, Cheryl connected with them on a much deeper level. Like them, she was searching for family and wanted to do what was right for the other Serpents. In some ways, she was already acting like a Serpent. She spent a large amount of time with them, almost as much time as the average Serpent. The only thing that needed to be done was to make it official.

And Toni didn't completely hate the idea of it. She was confident that Cheryl would make an amazing asset to the Serpents. Her girlfriend was badass— she was aware of that. Previously, she would have been concerned about Cheryl getting hurt because of all of the gang violence and brutalities that went on in the South Side, but Cheryl had already gotten a large amount of exposure to it and had been just fine. In fact, Cheryl was the one who had saved Toni once. Of course, Toni would always be fearful of Cheryl getting hurt and would do whatever was in her power to make sure she never did. An added bonus was also that Toni would get to spend much more time with her. Part of Toni had been worried that her role in the gang would get in the way of her relationship with Cheryl, but it had been far from it. In fact, it was only bringing them closer, especially because of Cheryl's willingness to understand the Serpents.

"I think that you would make an _amazing_ Serpent, honestly," Toni confessed.

When the redhead heard it, she grew ecstatic. She almost jumped up in her seat, a huge, toothy smile taking over her mouth.

"Really? You mean that, T.T.?" she asked.

Toni nodded her head, "I do. But why don't we see how today goes before anything? Think through everything. If you still want to join after everything that goes down in the next few days, I'll talk to the Serpents about it. With everything you've done for us so far, I can't see them being too opposed to it." 

Things had gone completely opposite to what Cheryl was expecting. She thought that Toni was going to instantly shoot her down, telling her that the Serpents were too dangerous and that the lifestyle that came with being one wasn't something that Cheryl would be able to handle. 

The redhead felt warm inside, seeing how her girlfriend believed in her. Toni never saw her as weak or incapable. She appreciated that. 

"Will do," Cheryl nodded her head. "And, you know, when this is all over, if you... need a place to stay, I meant it when I said you should consider staying here."

Toni's mouth was going dry. She pressed her lips together, staring at the redhead in front of her. She had always felt something of protection and family when she was with the Serpents, but when she was with Cheryl, it was far beyond that. She felt like she was home already. 

"The last thing I want for you is to have to search every night for a trailer to crash. My Nana and I are going to have Thistlehouse all to ourselves. After everything you have done for me, the least I can do for you is offer you a place to stay. I  _know_ Nana wouldn't mind." 

Cheryl was offering her a  _home_. A real place to stay. Toni had never had a permanent home. She couldn't even imagine a life where she came back to the same residence every single day. She wouldn't care if Cheryl was offering her a bed in an old shack or a gutter in the middle of nowhere— all that mattered was that she really had somebody who cared for her in a way that nobody had ever cared for her before. 

Toni would be forever grateful that she had gotten to know the  _real_ Cheryl. Most people didn't have that opportunity. 

Quite honestly, the Serpent was tempted to blurt out that she loved the redhead sitting across from her, but... not yet. Another time. Another time for sure. 

"I guess we both have a lot to think about, then?" Toni mused.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is probably the second to last chapter of the story! This one is about the alleged deleted scene where we were supposed to see Toni's Serpent tattoo. With not much information on the scene, I get a lot of freedom with this one! 
> 
> The next chapter, which may be the last one, is going to be the moving in together deleted scene (which we actually KNOW exists... RAS tweeted pictures of it, too; I think it will be on the DVD in August). 
> 
> It might be the end for now. I'm going to mark the story as completed, but I think it's very possible that I'll revisit this to add more chapters later, as I'm sure there will be many more deleted Choni scenes in the following seasons of Riverdale. But anyway, for now: thanks for your amazing support and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Toni could hardly contain the swooning in her heart back when she was watching Cheryl "officially" become a South Side Serpent. The way she looked so fierce in that red Serpent jacket— it truly looked right on her. Toni had first seen her in a black Serpent jacket at school when she was helping them protest; Toni had found her absolutely stunning in the black one. The cherry red Serpent jacket suited her  _even better_ than the black one, if that was even possible.

Toni shut the door behind her, stepping into Cheryl's bedroom. The outside sky was a dark shade of blue; Cheryl had a small lamp dimly lighting her room. Of course, she had much brighter sources of light in her bedroom, but the dim lighting made it a bit more... romantic, for this special occasion of Cheryl becoming a Serpent.

"You know, you're  _technically_ not an official Serpent yet," Toni reminded her with a tiny smirk, leaning back against Cheryl's luxuriously large bed.

Cheryl raised her eyebrows, "Hmm?"

"That sexist strip dance initiation," Toni clarified. "It's the thing that girls have to do to officially become a Serpent."

Cheryl's mouth hung open slightly. Toni had briefed her about  _that_ tradition before, when they were discussing whether or not Cheryl would actually try to join the Serpents. However, for some reason, it still hadn't crossed her mind that she hadn't even done it when Jughead gave her the Serpent jacket. 

"Then why did Jughead even give me the jacket?" she blinked a few times.

Toni raised her eyebrows, "You think there's any way I'm letting those pervy boys watch  _my_ girlfriend do a strip tease for them? Hell no. I told them that I'd make sure you do it later because I didn't want you to have to do it in front of them. It's way too sexist. And honestly, I'm fine with breaking tradition just this once. You don't even have to actually do it— I can just tell them you did. Trust me, they'll believe me."

Cheryl tilted her head to the side, giving her girlfriend quite the smirk. She reached her hand over, gripping the lustrous leather of Toni's black Serpent jacket, pulling the girl closer to her. She brought their lips dangerously close.

"You know, I would've put on an  _amazing_ show if I had to do it," Cheryl whispered. 

"I'm painfully aware," she chuckled. "But those other boys don't deserve to see someone as magnificent as you putting on a show for them." 

Cheryl nodded her head, "Undeniably true. But I don't want to trick the system. You told them that you would have me do it, so isn't the right thing... for me to do it?" 

"Well, I'm just saying... I won't tell them if you don't do it," Toni said, her mouth going dry from how close Cheryl was to her. She could feel the redhead's body pressing against hers. There was still some space between their mouths, but Toni so desperately wanted to change that.

"I don't mind doing it, T.T.," Cheryl bit her lip in a way that was indescribably sexy to Toni. "...not if it's for you." 

" _Oh_ ," Toni's breath hitched as Cheryl pushed her down on to the bed. 

Toni was sitting up straight while Cheryl positioned herself on the other girl's lap, straddling her. The redhead wrapped her arms around Toni’s neck. She moved her ass against  the Serpent’s lap. Toni just watched the sight in front of her— it was insanely sexy and she could hardly control herself while Cheryl was moving on top of her. 

“I’m supposed to strip now, right?”

As soon as Toni heard those words, her eyes were fixed on Cheryl’s. She was never expecting Cheryl to go that far— she assumed they’d stop after a little teasing lap dance. She wasn’t serious, right? Because Toni wasn’t sure how long she could last.

Her questions were answered when Cheryl shrugged her red Serpent jacket off, then pulled her top over her head, revealing a red bra underneath. Toni swallowed hard, able to see perfect cleavage peeking out from the bra. All Toni wanted to do right now was touch her, but she was sure that Cheryl wanted complete control— at least while she was doing her “Serpent initiation.”

Cheryl kept moving on Toni’s lap. She then pushed Toni’s black Serpent jacket off her shoulders, which Toni helped her get off completely. Cheryl’s hands touched around the pink-haired girl’s sides until finally resting on the hem of Toni’s black shirt underneath. She guided Toni’s top off, throwing it so that it joined the other clothes on the floor.

”I, um... I think that’s good enough for the... Serpent initiation thing,” Toni assured her, biting her lip. God, she really couldn’t control herself against Cheryl’s teasing dance. “It’s more than official. I’ll be sure to let the guys know that you did it.”

”Fantastic,” Cheryl smirked, her lips sinking into Toni’s neck, “but T.T., this isn’t about being a Serpent anymore.”

Toni almost choked. “Hmm?”

Right then, Cheryl brought her head up to meet Toni’s face, then leaned down and kissed her girlfriend’s lips. Toni’s hands got tangled in the sea of red hair as their lips moved together in perfect melting motions. Slowly, they fell back from a sitting position, laying down on the bed with Cheryl on top of Toni. As they kept kissing on Cheryl’s bed, Toni flipped them over so that she was on top.

“Are you sure?” Toni asked in a whisper, staring into Cheryl’s eyes.

”More than sure,” Cheryl replied before grabbing the back of Toni’s neck, pulling her head down so that they could kiss again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Cheryl's emancipation finalized, she and Toni officialize a huge decision together.

Breezy feelings of a new beginning and reassurance hit Toni Topaz as she steadily held the handles of her motorcycle, watching the roads closely. 

It was all over— everything was all over. 

The past few months had been one hell of a time, and not in a good way. So much had happened, so many things from good to bad, although they were mostly bad. The best part of this moment was that all of the bad things were over and the good things were still there. And one of those good things happened to be Cheryl Blossom, who had stumbled into Toni's life as a big challenge, but Toni was a girl who liked a challenge. From there, she broke into Cheryl's walls, discovering the real her while simultaneously falling head over heels for her. 

Hal Cooper, Tall Boy— all things the  _Black Hood_ seemed to finally be behind them. The Serpents got to stay at Riverdale High School after a protest with both the North Siders and the South Siders united, Cheryl being one of those North Siders who stuck by them. In fact, Cheryl had stuck by her through so much of the terrible crap that had been happening recently. She couldn't thank her enough for it. 

Now, she would get to stay at Riverdale High School. She went from getting a nonexistent education at an underfunded, hell-hole of a high school to actually getting access to real resources where she could develop a  _legitimate_ education. 

All in all, it was like she was hitting the reset button on her life. The mess was staying behind while she got to move forward, to bigger and better things. She would get to start learning, to start planning a future, maybe even away from Riverdale and away from the South Side, even if her Serpent skin would always stay with her (that was a decision for later, of course). But, more relevantly, in the near future, she could live a calmer life. 

She had a real home now. A real place to stay— a real bed to sleep in. No more couch surfing at random Serpent friends' trailers and no more getting locked out of her uncle's trailer. 

Parking her motorcycle outside of the luxurious house, Toni hopped off of it. She placed her black helmet on the bike, starting for the front door. She had been here earlier to help make Cheryl's Serpent status "official." However, she had head back to her uncle's trailer, luckily finding the door unlocked, and grabbed the small bag of things that she carried with her everywhere. The bag contained mostly just clothes, but it was what she needed to make her move.

Carrying the bag in her hand, she took slow steps, basking in that  _this_ was now her reality. From having nothing, to having Cheryl. Cheryl was her everything now. She was like family.

She stared up and down the tall standing of Thistlehouse. It certainly was an intimidating sight, so big and spacious, nothing like any place Toni had ever been. It was a drastic change from the worn-down, small trailers she had been staying in, the beat up couches that she had laid her head down on after a long night of Serpent fights and brawls, with aching legs and bruises spread all across her face.

Home. This was home now. 

Before she even made it there, the door of Thistlehouse swung open, and there was Cheryl standing there with a tight-lipped smile, her arm held upright, leaning on the door frame. Toni couldn't help but smile when she saw her—  _she_ was her home. She was the person that she would come home to every night. Toni actually saw a future: a future for herself and a future with Cheryl Blossom.

Toni just kept smiling. She really was home now, wasn't she? She made it to the doorway, standing right in front of Cheryl.

She spotted Cheryl's Nana Rose in the back, swinging back and forth on her rocking chair, delighted at the faint, blurry sight of Toni in the doorway. Nana Rose happened to like her a lot, and she was grateful for that.

"Hi," Toni breathed.

"Hi. Come inside." 

Toni nodded her head, her bag draped behind her shoulder as she entered Thistlehouse, the glorious amount of space overwhelming. She could smell tea brewing from the kitchen, which she assumed was Cheryl's doing. She smiled harder. This was their life now.

She already couldn't get enough of Cheryl, and now she would get to see her every day? They were connected through the Serpents now, too. They were a family. 

"Welcome home, T.T."


End file.
